A few hours back, Breitbart, CNN, the Wall Street Journal, and a few other news outlets reported that the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol protests is withdrawing its subpoena of President Donald Trump as it concludes its work.

Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) wrote the following in a letter to President Trump's attorney:

As you may know, the Select Committee has concluded its hearings, released its final report, and will very soon reach its end.

In light of the imminent end of our investigation, the Select Committee can no longer pursue the specific information covered by the subpoena.

Therefore, through this letter, I hereby formally withdraw the subpoena issued to former President Trump, and notify you that he is no longer obligated to comply or produce records in response to the said subpoena.

Lawyer Harmeet Dhillon revealed that her firm had filed a lawsuit on separation of powers grounds to block the January 6 House Select Committee's illegitimate subpoena of President Trump over his activities while president.  Dhillon also revealed that her lawsuit was based on the precedent of past presidents' refusal to testify in Congress.

1/ BREAKING! After my firm filed suit on separation of powers grounds to block January 6 House Select Committee’s illegitimate subpoena to President Trump over his activities while president— the committee waved the white flag & withdrew subpoena. We were confident of victory/ pic.twitter.com/7ElOXljpt1

— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@pnjaban) December 29, 2022

Earlier this month, Dhillon announced her candidacy to replace Ronna McDaniel as chairperson of the Republican National Committee.

The January 6th Committee had subpoenaed Trump in October for documents and testimony related to its investigation into January 6, 2021 events at the U.S. Capitol.

President Trump responded by suing the committee to block the subpoena.

The committee had already dropped a number of subpoenas related to other witnesses.

The committee wrapped up its investigation by referring Trump to the Justice Department for potential criminal prosecution on four separate charges.  These referrals hold no legal weight.

In response to the subpoena withdrawal, President Trump posted the following on his social media platform Truth Social:

Was just advised that the Unselect Committee of political Thugs has withdrawn the Subpoena of me concerning the January 6th Protest of the CROOKED 2020 Presidential Election. They probably did so because they knew I did nothing wrong, or they were about to lose in Court. Perhaps the FBI’s involvement in RIGGING the Election played into their decision. In any event, the Subpoena is DEAD!

So is this a cause for celebration for Trump and his supporters?

Before we decide where to celebrate, let's revisit the events since President Trump was elected in November 2016.

An outsider such as Trump being elected to the nation's highest office was a slap in the face for the D.C. establishment.

This should have served as a wake-up call and should have compelled them to initiate remedial actions.

Instead, they chose another route.

They refused to concede defeat.  They blamed it on low-information and bigoted voters who were enamored of Trump's reality shows.  They blamed it on widespread voter suppression and on former FBI director James Comey's presser that announced investigations into Hillary Clinton.

They tried myriad ways to prevent Trump from inauguration.  They used proxies to advise and scare Electoral College delegates not to cast their votes for President-Elect Trump in December 2016, despite the fact that he had the votes.

But nothing worked, and President Trump was inaugurated.

So they floated their most audacious disinformation campaign, which was in the making all through the 2016 presidential election.

They claimed that Trump won the election by colluding with Russia.  There was no specificity on how the votes were altered or how the elections were compromised.  It was just an unrelenting cacophony of baseless allegations that was amplified by the Democrat media complex.

The noise also caused the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller in 2017.  The probe lasted for almost two years, cost $32 million of taxpayer funds, and hung like a sword over the Trump presidency.

All through the probe, the media ran spurious reports that the "walls were closing in," and it was a matter of time before Trump would either resign or the 25th Amendment would be applied to force Trump out of office.

In the end, Mueller found no proof of collusion.  Still, the report was purposefully worded ambiguously to allow the cloud of doubt to prevail.

The probe probably cost the GOP the House during the 2018 midterms.

Next, the Democrat-controlled House impeached Trump, claiming he withheld military aid to Ukraine to compel Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to announce an investigation into Joe Biden.

Trump was right to ask Zelensky to investigate Biden.  Ukraine has a record of corruption, and Biden and his son have records of shady deals in Ukraine.  As president, Trump had a right to know if a possible future president was compromised.

But this impeachment wasn't based on principles; it was political and based on scorn.

Apart from the Mueller Probe and the impeachment, there were numerous other bogus allegations.  On some occasions, Trump was called bigoted, disorderly, senile, and an ignoramus; on others, he was called an evil criminal genius.

These hoaxes and the baseless impeachments probably cost Trump votes in the 2020 election.

In January 2021, the Democrat-controlled House baselessly impeached Trump again, this time for "incitement of insurrection" against the U.S. government and "lawless action at the Capitol." 

Next was the Stalinist January 6 probe, which is a sequel to the Mueller probe.  Like the Mueller probe, the committee is populated exclusively with Trump's adversaries, who presumed his guilt.

The trial was one-sided; only anti-Trump witnesses were invited and allowed to make claims without any challenge.  Worse, Trump's attorneys weren't allowed to cross-question these witnesses.

Now that the GOP has control of the House and the January 6th Committee is winding down, Biden's attorney general, Merrick Garland, appointed Special Counsel Jack Smith to lead a probe into Trump's handling of classified documents and his role in the Capitol "riot."

Garland openly declared that the reason for the probe was because Trump had announced his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election.

To sum it up, since the day Trump was inaugurated, or perhaps a bit before, he and his family were targets of the swamp.

The probes during the Trump presidency were meant to force him out of office.  The January 6 probe was meant to prevent Trump from running again in 2024.  This Smith probe is meant to scupper Trump's 2024 run for president.

Back to the withdrawal of the subpoena.

This is nothing to celebrate because the probe itself was baseless and should have been thrown out on the very first day.  The fact that it took so long is a travesty.  This subpoena was withdrawn because the committee knew that it wouldn't stand in court after Trump sued them.  They were merely cutting their losses and preventing public embarrassment.  Besides, myriad other baseless probes with political motivations continue.

The persecution of political opponents is a common occurrence in third-world totalitarian countries.  This is not how one of the world's largest democracies and economic superpowers should function.

Time for the Republicans to repurpose the January 6 probe and investigate if government agency officials incited violent or criminal conduct during the January 6 protest.  The likes of Ray Epps and other rogue agents should be subpoenaed.

Will the GOP be brave enough to act?

No harm in being optimistic.

Image: Free image, Pixabay license, no attribution required.